The Gentleman
by RebelzHeart
Summary: In which Ace's ship is shot by the Tenryuubito as a child, and at the ripe old age of 17, Sabo is the one who sets out to sea and joins the Whitebeard Pirates instead. (And here Sabo was, thinking that taking care of Luffy would be the craziest thing that happened to him.)
1. Chapter 1

**WARNING:** Swearing. (However, as a tip: if you don't like swearing, fanfiction does allow you to filter it.)

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Sabo did not sign up for this shit.

"I'm going out to sea," he grumbled under his breath. "I'm going to be a pirate," he rolled his eyes. "I'm going to be free." He threw his hands up, absolutely _done_. "What happened to just peacefully pirate-ing?"

In front of him, Marco the Phoenix raised an eyebrow, an odd mixture between amusement and curiosity pulling his lips into a smirk. "Now that's an oxymoron if I ever heard one," He spoke casually, as though he didn't just threaten to kill Sabo a thousand different ways. "A peaceful pirate?"

Sabo wrinkled his nose, a decidedly Luffy-esque expression taking over his features. "Well, maybe not peaceful." He conceded regretfully. "But at least less..." He made a vague gesture towards the Phoenix, hoping that it would be understood, "And a bit more low key." (He had more than enough of that at home, taking care of Luffy.)

The Phoenix shrugged, blue flames beginning to lick his shoulders as he remarked airily, "Well, you know, Blue Gentleman, if you wanted that, then you probably shouldn't have attacked one of our villages."

Sabo raised an eyebrow. "Is that what this is about? Yeesh, and I thought that here you were just itching for a fight."

The Phoenix leveled him with an unimpressed stare, and Sabo had to bite down a snicker at how absolutely serious he seemed, and at the thought that he must have looked at Luffy the same way thousands of times before.

"Alright, well," Sabo cracked his knuckles and grinned brightly, relaxing his shoulders and smoothing out his back muscles. "I guess it'd be fun to fight you, so why not give it a shot?"

The Phoenix snorted, rolling his eyes ever so slightly as he sighed, "You're a complete rookie, aren't you?"

Sabo shrugged, childish and unrepentant as he answered, "I figure you won't kill me, so why not?"

"Oh?" At this, the Phoenix raised an eyebrow. "What makes you so sure of that?"

Sabo hummed distractedly, taking in the way that the flames shadowed the Phoenix's features. "Just a hunch," He answered airily, lifting a shoulder as he rolled his head back. "Anywho, aren't you going to do whatever you came here to do?"

"Was it an accident?" Flames dying for a moment, the Phoenix's eyebrows drew together, forehead creasing ever so slightly. "Is that it? Did you destroy the village by accident?"

"You mean, the village with your flag?" Sabo shook his head, lifting his chin in something that vaguely resembled arrogance. "Nah. That was 100% on purpose. No take backs."

And his world turned blue.

"What the fuck?" The Phoenix snarled, leaping forwards to shove a flaming fist into Sabo's chest.

Haki quickly pooled over his ribs, and he lifted an inky fist to slam into the Phoenix, who ducked, allowing it to brush past a few wisps of hair. "I'm not so careless as to destroy a whole village by accident." Sabo responded, forcing himself to shrug, as though he were acting carelessly, trying not to let the Phoenix see the fury tightening his muscles.

"It's people like you who bring a bad name to pirates." The Phoenix hissed, leg lifting to slam Sabo into the ground.

Sabo choked, feeling the ground give way under him as he was shoved further down, and the Phoenix reached down to pull him up by his collar.

" _I'm_ the one who brings a bad name to pirates?" He asked incredulously, features darkening. "Fuck you, Phoenix. You bring a bad name to humanity." He coated his palms with Haki and slammed them onto the Phoenix's wrist, barely waiting to be dropped before he crouched down and swept his leg out under the Phoenix's. "And here I was, thinking that you might have been decent."

"I bring a bad name to humanity." Incredulous didn't even begin to describe how the Phoenix sounded as he leaped up, legs furling up for a moment before he kicked them out and wrapped them around Sabo's waist, leaning forwards to swing his fist at Sabo's head. "You murdered so many innocent people!"

"Innocent!?" Sabo's head whipped the the side, and he took the opportunity to slam it against the Phoenix's. "What messed up world are you living in, Phoenix? Human lives aren't so worthless that they can be sold for coin!"

The Phoenix caught Sabo's head with his hand and then slammed it into a nearby tree before pausing and dropping Sabo. "Wait, what? Are you implying that..."

"That you and your crew are lousy excuses for living organisms?" Sabo sneered, wiping some blood from his forehead. "Yeah. And here I was thinking that only trash like the World Government did this kind of stuff."

"That was a slave trading port?" Marco whispered, his body suddenly feeling heavy and weary.

" _No_ ," Sabo rolled his eyes sarcastically, wincing as he pressed his hand against his head. "That was actually a town full of fairies and magical pixies that help Father Christmas deliver gifts."

Marco's head spun, and he pressed his back against another tree. "Shit. _Shit._ I'm... I'm sorry, Blue Gentleman." He paused, and twisted his lips to the side. "I didn't mean to, I didn't, we didn't... wait, you're not lying, are you?"

"To a piece of crap like you?" Sabo snorted, stretching his legs out and relaxing his shoulders. "Waste of breath. So I take it that this was a misunderstanding?"

Marco nodded numbly, feeling a bit like a bobble head toy. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to attack you."

Sabo waved a hand flippantly, pressing his hands against his head as he laughed, light yet bitter. "I'm pretty sure you meant to." He snickered, though when Marco made to apologize, he waved him off. "You know what? You're not half bad, Phoenix."

"Am I more than half?" Marco asked dryly, raising an eyebrow.

Sabo made a half laugh, half sighing sound. "Maybe. Aren't you just a dirty pirate, anyways? How would I know?" He paused, and stood up, scowling as he brushed some blood from his eyes. "I don't suppose my ship's still in the harbor?"

The Phoenix closed his eyes, trying to think about it. "There wasn't anything in the harbor. There wasn't even a harbor left."

"Of course." Sabo snorted, dusting something from his pants. "Just my luck."

The Phoenix cracked an eye open, eyes widening as he asked, "Could it be... do you not have any way to get off this island?"

Sabo offered him a frown that seemed to imply that he was stupid. "Well, considering that my shipwright is now..." His features closed off, immediately as icy as hail, "Dead. Then, yeah." He pursed his lips together. "Maybe I can make a raft out of the trees or something. Whatever. Least I'm not Luffy, the idiot would..." He shook his head, the ghost of a smile tracing his lips.

The Phoenix drummed his fingers against the ground thoughtfully, curiously, for a moment, before sighing, "Come with us. We'll drop you off wherever you're heading, alright?"

Surprise flickered over Sabo's features for a moment, before suspicion replaced it. "Why?" His voice was meant to be sharp and biting, but it came out more exhausted, as though the events of the day had finally come down on him.

The Phoenix inclined his head towards Sabo's general direction. "To make it up for attacking you needlessly."

"Oh." Sabo shrugged, brushing his hair from his face and pressing his hat onto his head. "You don't have to."

"Then, with your permission," Marco tried to channel his inner 100%-drama-queen-Thatch. "Allow us the honor of your company."

Sabo's lips twitched upwards, quick and hesitant, before he sighed, "Fine. But if you're going to kill me, do it quick, alright? Don't drown me or give me some stupidly long torturous death."

"As you wish," The Phoenix raised an eyebrow as they started towards the ship. "I'll be sure to make your death quick and painless."

Sabo laughed at that, a bit lighter than before. "Are you planning on feeding me?"

The Phoenix grinned at him, a crooked thing, with one edge of his lips pulling a bit too much upwards, casting a mischievous gleam into his eyes. "We'll see." He answered, shrugging. "Don't worry, starvation's a boring way to kill someone."

Sabo laughed again, and Marco realized that he really wasn't quite so bad after all.

(Here's to hoping, he thought to himself, that Oyaji takes a liking to him as well.)

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 **A/N:** Sooo... did you like it? How was it? I think this may be my new long running fic. I just can't seem to leave the Whitebeards alone... I don't know, though. I might end up working full time on an origin fic for the Whitebeards. What do you guys think?


	2. Chapter 2

The Blue Gentleman is quiet as the nurse bandages him, thoughtful and without any complaint. Marco watches him from the corner, leaned against the frame of the door and wondering what he's thinking at the moment.

Then, he asks, childish and pouty, "When are you going to be _done_? This is so _boring_ ," and Marco can't help but laugh even as the nurse glares at the Blue Gentleman, obviously wishing that she could hit him (but obviously unable to, considering his injuries). "Ah, right, Phoenix." The Blue Gentleman's eyes flickered over to Marco and he raised an eyebrow, grinning widely. "You have that super cool healing fruit, right?"

Marco raised an eyebrow. "Yeah," He agreed, straightening and standing up properly. "What about it?"

"It's a mythical transformation zoan, right?" Without waiting for the answer, he continued, "That's got to take up a lot of energy. Does it affect your metabolism? Do you need to work out? How does it affect you muscle mass? Does it help your original form, or does it cause harm to it? As someone with two separate forms, which one do you prefer, and why?"

"Curious, are you?" Marco grinned ever so slightly, before stepping over and sitting down on a chair next to the Blue Gentleman's bed. "Why would I tell you, a supposed enemy?"

The Blue Gentleman's eyes were still bright and childish as he smiled sweetly and answered quite matter-of-factly, "Because you nearly killed me."

A ball of guilt coiled in Marco's stomach (which made no sense, he was perfectly justified and he didn't know the situation when he had attacked), and he murmured, "Look, Blue Gentleman..."

"It's fine." The blond waved a hand flippantly, uncaring and distracted. "You don't actually have to. I was just kidding. But it would be nice to know."

"And it would be nice for me," The nurse tightened the bandage, glaring at the Blue Gentleman. "If you started following proper medical procedure, as opposed to what you did with your previous scars." She gestured to the burn over the Blue Gentleman's eye, and he smiled sheepishly.

"In my defense, there's nothing to do when you're sitting in bed!"

The nurse swatted him over the head, seeming to have decided to stop caring about his injuries. "That's not a good defense, you idiot!"

"It's not?" He wrinkled his nose, and twisted his lips to the side. "Hm. Oh well." He smiled brightly at her, and pressed a hand to his chest as he gave a little half bow, still sitting down. "Thank you for taking care of me."

"Oh, I..." The nurse blinked owlishly for a moment, before scowling and turning to Marco. "Hey, idiot, why don't _you_ ever act like this?"

"Because I never _come_ in here!" Marco protested, spreading his arms out.

"What's your excuse for before you got your healing factor, hm?"

Marco turned bright red and shuffled awkwardly. "Look, that was a long time ago and..."

"Mm hm." Disbelievingly, the nurse readjusted the IV and stood up, sighing slightly. "I'm leaving, so don't do anything stupid, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am." The Blue Gentleman saluted her, a cheeky smile on his features before he turned back to Marco. "So, Phoenix, have you decided how you're going to kill me?"

Marco rolled his eyes. "Sorry to disappoint you, kid, but we've decided to let you live."

The Blue Gentleman gasped and pressed a hand over his chest, pretending to be wounded. "What monster are you, to do such a thing?" He asked, sobbing dramatically.

 _Skypeia_ , this kid was dramatic. "So, have you decided what you're going to do?" Marco hummed as he tapped his fingers against the leg of the chair. "Would you like to sail with us some more, or is there a certain place that you'd like to be dropped off?"

"You can just drop me off at your next stop, thanks." The Blue Gentleman picked up the cup next to his bed and took a sip of the water, scrunching his nose ever so slightly as he asked, "Do you know where that is, by chance?"

Marco shrugged, picking at a loose strand of thread on his shirt as he answered, "Sorry, not yet. Izou and Thatch are still arguing over where we're going next." He sighed at the thought, too exasperated to elaborate.

Thankfully, the Blue Gentleman seemed to understand, and he rolled his shoulders back, experimenting to see how well he could move each part of his body. "That's alright, I suppose." He flashed a quick, bold grin at Marco. "It'll be an adventure, in the very least."

Marco groaned, leaning back to tip his head towards the ceiling, resting the back of his neck against the back of his chair as he moaned, "You're not just some adrenaline junkie, are you?"

"No way!" The Blue Gentleman snickered, seeming amused by the thought. "Although Lu..." He froze, and his eyes wandered over to his knuckles, before flickering back to Marco as he breathed, eyes wide, "Did you cover up the incident?"

Marco shook his head, taken aback ever so slightly by the sudden change in character. "We were planning on letting some of the crew help clean up the mess, but we didn't work to deliberately _hide_ it, no..."

"How many days has it been?" He demanded, eyebrows drawing together. "Has it made it into the newspaper?"

And, stomach dropping, Marco stood up, forcing out a calm, "I'll go check," as he raced out and made to go get a paper.

It wasn't long before he managed to get one, and sure enough, there it was, _"The Orange Pirates Massacre Whitebeard Town, the pirate crew is wiped out by vengeful Whitebeards..."_.

"No, no, no, _no_..." Staring in horror at the paper, the Blue Gentleman immediately jerked, as though he wanted to stand up, but Marco pressed a hand on his shoulder, pushing him down.

"What's the problem, Blue Gentleman?" He asked, raising an eyebrow until he realized _oh, wait, all of his crew is dead_.

The Blue Gentleman seemed to realize it as well, but didn't quite want to say it, so he tipped his head back and whispered, horrified, "My little brother, if he sees this..." _He'd think that I'm dead._

Marco's stomach churned, understanding the Blue Gentleman's unhappiness at the thought. "You have family waiting for you, then?" It wasn't unheard of (the sharpshooter of the Red Haired Pirates being the one that came to mind), but it was rare that a pirate had family that actually worried for them back home. Usually they were abandoned by the family, whether in the family's fault or the pirate's fault, the results were the same.

"Not waiting for me," The Blue Gentleman offered Marco a crooked smile, eyes bright and features boyish. The sharp cut of his jawline seemed an odd contrast to the rounded edges of his cheekbones, as though he were a man trying to look like a child (or perhaps it was the other way around). "Waiting for time. He just watches out for me while he waits, is all. But if he thinks that I'm dead..."

"You can use our Den Den Mushi," Marco offered, and the tenseness in the Blue Gentleman's shoulders relaxed, as though comforted by the thought (but Marco could feel the way that under his fingers, and from his sight, the Blue Gentleman had been on guard ever since Marco had laid eyes on him, and hadn't truly untensed since the fight).

"Right," The Blue Gentleman agreed, relaxed and calm to the outside eye (Marco didn't think many but the commanders... maybe not even all of them, would notice the way his eyes remained sharp and his legs were ready to bolt). "Thank you."

Marco wished he could unwind the tenseness in the Blue Gentleman's shoulders, wished that he could take away the wary expression on his features, but knew that there was no way that he could.

"No problem," He replied, squeezing the Blue Gentleman's arm on last time before pulling away and stepping back ever so slightly. "Why don't you get some rest now?"

Marco was a bit too tired to play this game of masks and lies.

"Alright," He could tell that the Blue Gentleman was, too, but unlike Marco, he couldn't just step away, he would be tense as long as he was on this ship. (Or perhaps he was always like this, even on his own ship.) "Thanks for the ride."

"No problem." Marco pulled out a smile, feeling a bit more like Thatch than himself. "Have a nice rest, alright?"

"Yeah." The Blue Gentleman ran his thumb over his knuckles. "Alright."

And the door shut behind Marco as he closed his eyes and wondered if he'd truly made the right decision in inviting this stranger on board.


End file.
